“The new Congress that begins its work next year will have serious responsibilities and historic opportunities. To accelerate the momentum of this economy and to keep creating jobs, we must take practical measures to help our job creators, the entrepreneurs and the small business owners.”

--President George W. Bush, November 4, 2004

• Small Biz Sticks With Bush: Of SBO men, 61% voted for George W. Bush, while 37% supported John Kerry. A majority of SBO women also gave President Bush “four more years” (53% for Bush and 47% for Kerry).
• SBOs Role in Control of Congress: SBOs decisively helped the GOP to maintain control in the House of Representatives. In fact, 53% of them voted for the Republican candidate for Congress, while 39% pulled the lever for Democrats. (More than half – 55%, of SBO men voted for the Republican candidate for Congress, as did 50% of SBO women. 41% of SBO women and 38% of SBO men supported the Democratic candidate.)
• Registration: 39% of SBOs were registered as Republicans (40% men, 37% women), 29% were registered Democrats (28% men, 29% women) and 29% were Independents (29% men, 30% women).
• When did they decide?: With respect to when they made their decision about their vote for the Presidency, 53% decided either before or during the summer. The National Conventions had an impact on 14% of small business voters. Only 10% decided after the conventions (5% in September and 5% in early October); 11% were late-in-the-game deciders (9% in late October, 2% the week prior to election day); and 3% were last minute deciders (1% the last weekend before Election Day, 1% the day before and 1% on the day itself). (Note: 5% of SBO respondents said they “always vote Republican” and 3% do the same as Democrats.)
• Key Issues: “The war on terror and terrorism” topped the list for 25% of SBOs. Morality/Family Values was cited by 22% of SBOS, with Jobs and the Economy closely following at 21%. The situation in Iraq was identified by12%, while Health Care/Prescription Drugs was cited 6%. Other issues include: Taxes (3%); Education (2%); and Other/Don’t Know (9%).
• When they Voted: 86% of SBOs voted at the polls on Election Day, while 14% voted early or cast an absentee ballot.
• Political Leanings: Half (50%) of SBOs reported they were conservative (24% “very” conservative and 26% “somewhat” conservative) in their political views, a figure that is more than three times the number who say they are liberal (16% -- 12% “somewhat” liberal and 4% “very” liberal). An additional 29% call themselves “moderate” and 3% libertarian.

• 56% were male and 44% were female.
• SBOs were more likely to be 35-54 years old ( 3% 18-24, 14% 25-34, 35% 35-44, 26% 45-54, 14% 55-64, 8% 65+).
• More than seven-in-ten (73%) were White, while 25% were minorities (11% African American, 5% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 6% Other).
• A majority is married (70%), while 16% report being single, 7% divorced, 3% separated, or 3% widowed.
• In terms of educational attainment, SBOs had a wide range of training/education: More than one-third (35%) had graduated college; 22% had done post-graduate work; 23% had some college experience; 14% earned a high school diploma; and 5% had less than a high school education.